Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analyzing European history: classical civilization, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern period.[2]Leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodization in his History of the Florentine People (1442).[3] The "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or "middle season". In early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or "middle age", first recorded in 1604,[4] and media scecula, or "middle ages", first recorded in 1625. Tripartite periodization became standard after the German historian Christoph Cellarius published Universal History Divided into an Ancient, Medieval, and New Period in 1683. English is the only major language that retains the plural form.[5]

Historians in the Romance languages tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High" and "Late".[2] Belgian historian Henri Pirenne and Dutch historian Johan Huizinga popularized the following subdivisions in the early 20th century: the Early Middle Ages from 476 to 1000, the High Middle Ages from 1000 to 1300, and the Late Middle Ages from 1300 to 1453. In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages",[14][b] but with the creation of these subdivisions use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians.[14]

Timeline

The Middle Ages

At its height in the second century A.D., the Roman Empire was the beacon of learning, trade, power and prosperity in the western world. But the once-powerful Rome,rotten to the core by the fifth century,lay open to barbarian warriors who came in wave after wave of invasion, slaughtering, stealing, and ultimately, settling. As chaos replaced culture, Europe was beset by famine, plague, persecutions, and a state of war that was so persistent it was only rarely interrupted by peace. THE DARK AGES profiles those who battled to shape the future, from the warlords whose armies threatened to case the demise of European society, like Alaric, Charles the Hammer, and Clovis.

Dante's Divine Comedy

Dante met Beatrice Portinari when his father took him to the Portinari house for a May Day party. Dante was instantly taken with her and remained so throughout her life even though she married a banker, Simone dei Bardi, in 1287. She died three years later in June of 1290 at the age of 24. But Dante continued to hold an abiding love and respect for the woman after her death, even though Dante himself married Gemma Donati in 1285 and had his own children. After Beatrice's death, Dante withdrew into intense study and began composing poems dedicated to her memory.